TRAVEL: After the superstorm:

After the superstorm: Then and now photographs capture the devastation – and regeneration – a year after Hurricane Sandy

Over the past year, people from Cape May, N.J., to Montauk, N.Y., have been putting their lives back together
The progress in some communities has been remarkable. In others, it has been painfully slow
Countless buildings sit vacant and moldering, while others have been reduced to empty lots or piles of sand

The work began the moment Superstorm Sandy's floodwaters ebbed back into the sea.

Over the past year, people from Cape May, N.J., to Montauk, N.Y., have been mucking out their flooded homes, trucking away tons of debris and putting their lives back together, one piece of drywall at a time.

There has been plenty to do. When the Atlantic heaved forward, it swallowed thousands of vehicles and fried the power systems that make the Manhattan skyline dazzle after dark.

Then: The work began the moment Superstorm Sandy's floodwaters ebbed back into the sea. A flag waving in front of the burned remains of more than 60 small bungalows which were destroyed at Camp Osborn in Brick, N.J., during Superstorm Sandy

Now: A tattered flag flapping in the wind in Brick, N.J., where 60 small bungalows that once made up Camp Osborn were destroyed in a fire a year ago during Superstorm Sandy

Then: Robert Bryce, right, walking with his wife, Marcia Bryce, in the middle of Route 35 in Ortley Beach, N.J., two days after Superstorm Sandy hit the area

Now: Jose Figueiredo holds a stick while crossing Route 35 in Ortley Beach, N.J. A year ago, the road was covered in beach sand and debris

Hundreds of buildings burned in wind-whipped fires.One year into the recovery, some of the locations hit hardest by the storm have been revisited.

The progress in some communities has been remarkable. In others, it has been painfully slow.

Boardwalks and amusement parks on Long Island and the Jersey Shore have been rebuilt.

Yet, countless buildings sit vacant and moldering, while others have been reduced to empty lots or piles of sand.

Then: Debris left by Superstorm Sandy where the boardwalk had been in front of Lucky Leo's arcade in Seaside Heights, N.J.

Now: People walking along the rebuilt boardwalk in Seaside Heights, N.J., where a year ago Superstorm Sandy left the resort area in ruins

Some homeowners are still staring at the same stripped studs and piles of lumber that have been in their living rooms since last November.

One thing is clear: There has been no retreat yet from the shore.

Houses are slowly rising again all along the coast, albeit sometimes on strange platforms above the high water mark.

Thousands of people still trying to fix their soaked and surf-battered homes are being stymied by bureaucracy, insurance disputes and uncertainty over whether they can even afford to rebuild.

Then: Lower Manhattan in the dark during Superstorm Sandy, as seen from the Brooklyn Heights promenade in the Brooklyn borough of New York. One World Trade Center, background center, remains brightly lit

Now: Nearly a year after Superstorm Sandy, shows the illuminated skyscrapers of lower Manhattan as a backdrop to ongoing construction in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood, in the Brooklyn borough of New York

Then: Brian Hajeski of Brick, N.J., reacting while looking at the destruction left behind when the Atlantic Ocean breached over land in Mantaloking, N.J., the morning after Superstorm Sandy rolled through

Now: Brian Hajeski standing at the same spot where a year earlier he witnessed the destruction left behind when the Atlantic Ocean breached over Mantaloking

Then: Sea water flooding the entrance to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel in New York as Superstorm Sandy struck the city

Now: A taxi entering New York's Brooklyn Battery Tunnel in lower Manhattan nearly a year after Superstorm Sandy flooded the tunnel and other low-lying areas of the city, including the nearby World Trade Center construction site

Billions of dollars in federal aid appropriated months ago by Congress have yet to reach homeowners who need that money to move on. Many have found flood insurance checks weren't nearly enough to cover the damage.

And worse, new federal rules mean many in high-risk flood zones may have to either jack their houses up on stilts or pilings - an expensive, sometimes impossible task - or face new insurance rates that hit $10,000 or more per year.

'It's just been such a terrible burden,' says Gina Maxwell, whose home in Little Egg Harbor, N.J., is still a wreck after filling with 4 feet of water. Contractors say it will cost $270,000 to rebuild - about double what the insurance paid out. The family doesn't have the money.

'My son is 11. He has a little piggy bank in his room. He said, "Take it, mom."

Then: Louise McCarthy carting belongings from her flood-damaged home as she passes the charred ruins of other homes in the Breezy Point section of the Queens borough of New York. In the beachfront enclave of Breezy Point fire burned 130 houses and flooding destroyed another 220

Now: Workers walking between houses under construction and empty concrete foundations in the Breezy Point neighborhood of the Queens borough in New York

Then: Homes that were destroyed by Superstorm Sandy, at Ortley Beach in Toms River, N.J. Half a year after Sandy devastated the Jersey shore and New York City and pounded coastal areas of New England, the region was still dealing with a slow and frustrating, yet often hopeful, recovery

Now: A sign in a section of Ortley Beach in Toms River, N.J., on an empty lot in an area where the debris from numerous homes was removed after being destroyed last October

Then: Commuters wait in a line to board buses into Manhattan in front of the Barclays Center in the Brooklyn borough of New York. The line stretched twice around the arena and commuters reported wait times of one to three hours to get on a bus

Now: The scene in front of the Barclays Center in the Brooklyn borough of New York a year later

Then: The streets under the Manhattan Bridge in the Brooklyn borough of New York are flooded as Superstorm Sandy hit the city

Now: A car and its streaking lights along John Street in The Dumbo section of the Brooklyn borough of New York. Almost a year ago, this area became impassable to people and vehicles alike after Superstorm Sandy floods forced the East River to rise above its banks and defy elaborate preventative planning

Then: A firefighter surveying the smoldering ruins of houses in the Breezy Point section of the Queens borough of New York. More than 100 homes there were destroyed in a fire which swept through the oceanfront community in the wake of Superstorm Sandy

Now: A view of Gotham Way in the Breezy Point section of the Queens borough of New York where a statue of the Virgin Mary that survived a massive fire once stood. The statue became an iconic image of Superstorm Sandy's wrath

Then: Downed power lines and a battered road smashed by Superstorm Sandy in Seaside Heights, N.J. Sandy, the storm that made landfall a day earlier, caused multiple fatalities, halted mass transit and cut power to more than 6 million homes and businesses

Now: Traffic flowing on a road connecting the barrier island at Seaside Heights, N.J., with the mainland of Toms River, N.J

Then: Rockaway resident Christine Walker walks along the beach under what is left of the Rockaway boardwalk days after Superstorm Sandy in the Queens borough of New York

Now: A view along the beach with reinforced dunes and the buried remains of the former boardwalk in a Rockaway neighborhood in the Queens borough of New York. Nealry a year ago, the boardwalk stood above the beach, used by the neighborhood and many other New Yorkers, but was wiped away by the storm surge

Then: A woman walks past debris from the damaged boardwalk in Seaside Heights, N.J., as clean-up of the damage from Superstorm Sandy continued throughout the region

Now: People walk along the rebuilt boardwalk in Seaside Heights, N.J. A year ago the boardwalk was destroyed and the area was inundated by sand in the wake of Superstorm Sandy

Then: The sun rising in Seaside Heights, N.J., behind the Jet Star Roller Coaster which had been sitting in the ocean after part of the Casino Pier was destroyed during Superstorm Sandy

Now: An empty section of the Atlantic ocean off Seaside Heights, N.J., where, for months after the Jet Star Roller Coaster rose out of the water after the Casino Pier was destroyed by the storm. The pier was the former site of the roller coaster that was swept into the ocean, creating one of the storm's enduring images. The roller coaster was removed in May

Then: A piece of construction equipment working on the pile of debris, collected during the cleanup from Superstorm Sandy, in the parking lot of Jacob Riis Park in the Rockaway section of the Queens borough

Now: The parking lot at Jacob Riis State Park empty of all the debris that had been stored there following Superstorm Sandy

Then: A street sign is buried more than halfway up in sand in Cape May, N.J., after a storm surge from Superstorm Sandy pushed the Atlantic Ocean and sand over the beach and across Beach Avenue

Now: A piece of blue tape on a sign pole in Cape May, N.J., marking the height the sand reach last October in the wake of Superstorm Sandy

Next week will mark the first anniversary of Superstorm Sandy's landfall in New Jersey. Sandy was the largest Atlantic hurricane on record (by diameter), the second-costliest storm in U.S. history, affecting 24 states, and was responsible for more than $65 billion in damage and hundreds of deaths from Jamaica to New England. Getty Images recently sent photographers to new York and New Jersey to rephotograph some of the iconic images from last year, to show the difference a year can make, as affected communities still work toward recovery. Starting with photo #2, the images are interactive, click on them to see a transition from "before" to "after". [15 photo pairs]

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Two photographs combined into one image, showing the remains of burned homes in the Breezy Point neighborhood of Queens on October 31, 2012 (upper left), and newly built homes and vacant lots in the same neighborhood, one year later, on October 21, 2013. Hurricane Sandy made landfall on October 29, 2012 near Brigantine, New Jersey and affected 24 states from Florida to Maine and cost the country an estimated $65 billion. (Mario Tama/Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

A before-and-after pair of images, the first showing rising water caused by Superstorm Sandy rushing into a parking garage on October 29, 2012 in New York City, and the next (click to fade), the re-opened garage, on October 22, 2013. Hurricane Sandy made landfall on October 29, 2012 near Brigantine, New Jersey and affected 24 states from Florida to Maine and cost the country an estimated $65 billion. [click image to view transition] (Andrew Burton/Getty Images) #

A before-and-after pair of images showing the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel, as it sits flooded after a tidal surge caused by Hurricane Sandy, on October 30, 2012, and (click to fade) today, as traffic passes from Manhattan into the Tunnel on October 22, 2013. [click image to view transition] (Allison Joyce/John Moore/Getty Images) #

In the first photo, a lone figure makes his way down South 9th Street as high tide, rain and winds flood local streets on October 29, 2012 in Lindenhurst, New York. The "after photo" (click to fade), show the same view of South 9th Street as photographed almost one year following Superstorm Sandy, on October 22, 2013. [click image to view transition] (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) #

People walk past sandbags on a flooded street as Hurricane Sandy moves closer to the area on October 29, 2012 in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, New York, and (click to fade) people walk past the same building a year later, on October 23, 2013. [click image to view transition] (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) #

In the "before" photo, the remains of burned homes are surrounded by water due to Superstorm Sandy in the Breezy Point neighborhood of Queens, on October 31, 2012. The next image (click to fade) shows newly built homes and vacant lots in the same neighborhood, on October 21, 2013. [click image to view transition] (Mario Tama/Andrew Burton/Getty Images) #

Before: residents of West Lido Boulevard take a break during cleanup operations following Hurricane Sandy on October 31, 2012 in Lindenhurst, New York. After (click to fade): cars sit parked in the driveway of the same home on October 22, 2013. [click image to view transition] (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) #

Last year, the Monmouth Beach pavilion sat surrounded by debris caused by Superstorm Sandy on November 8, 2012 in Monmouth, New Jersey. Now (click to fade) the pavilion stands cleared of debris, on October 22, 2013. [click image to view transition](Allison Joyce/Andrew Burton/Getty Images) #

Before: an emergency responder helps evacuate two people with a boat, after their neighborhood experienced flooding due to Superstorm Sandy in Little Ferry, New Jersey, on October 30, 2012. After (click to fade): the same home, on October 22, 2013.[click image to view transition] (Andrew Burton/Getty Images) #

Last year: a volunteer surveys a pile of boats, dumped by Superstorm Sandy in Highlands, New Jersey, on November 1, 2012. This year (click to fade): boats are stored at the same marina, on October 22, 2013. [click image to view transition](Andrew Burton/Getty Images) #

The first image shows a church cross standing amid wreckage from Superstorm Sandy at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean in Long Branch, New Jersey, on October 31, 2012. In the secend image (click to fade), the same cross is shown on October 21, 2013. [click image to view transition] (Mario Tama/Andrew Burton/Getty Images) #

Before: a man walks through a flooded street after Superstorm Sandy in Little Ferry, New Jersey, on October 30, 2012. After (click to fade): the same house, on October 22, 2013. [click image to view transition] (Andrew Burton/Getty Images) #

The first photo shows clean-up underway, among piles of debris where a large section of the iconic boardwalk was washed away in the Rockaway neighborhood of Queens, on November 10, 2012. In the second image (click to fade) cars sit parked on the same steet, on October 19, 2013. [click image to view transition] (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) #

Before: A boat from the Blue Water Club blocks Whaleneck Drive in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy in Merrick, New York, on November 1, 2012. After (click to fade): cars sit parked on Whaleneck Drive, on October 22, 2013. [click image to view transition](Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) #

Before: The iconic Princess Cottage, built in 1855, remains partly standing after being ravaged by flooding caused by Superstorm Sandy in Union Beach, New Jersey, on November 21, 2012. After (click to fade) the spot where the Princess Cottage used to stand, one year later, on October 22, 2013. [click image to view transition] (Mario Tama/Andrew Burton/Getty Images)